I asked Gerry about the Cowling on numerous occassions and he replied that he will make it out off traditional balsa block He has found a place on the Web that makes finely detailed fiberglass cowlings but, they are asking $35.00US + shipping.

I suggested a GWS BEAVER cowling but, it maybe a little small for this scaling and besides, Gerry said that he likes that idea of the blisters made out of balsa as well.

Who knows, should this project come out as good as it has so far he may just go for the $35.00 cowling?

Still undesided about the cowling. I think I'll probably try it out of balsa first and see how that comes out. If it doesn't look good I could then get the fiberglass one, or make a plug and shrink one from a Coke bottle, however I have never tried that method so I'm not sure how that would turn out.

Well, while I ponder on the cabane struts I decided to start on the tail group. Now, the plans call for the typical built up surfaces with some sheet material for the curved ends. Since this plane will be covered with ULTRACOAT which when lit from behind it allows you to see thru it to some extent, I decided to use the old laminated outline method I used a lot for my free fliers in high school.

First I cut a bunch of 1/8" wide strips from a 1/32" balsa sheet. Then I wet them on warm water and start wrapping them around the outline definde by pins. This method is extremely easy to make, it will show thru the covering like the real plane and is very strong and LIGHT when CA is applied to the laminations.

I'm doing this one with four layers to have a uniform 1/8" thick lamination. The photo shows it a lot more clear than I could possibly explain it. It's an old method but it works real well.

Gerry.

Images

I'm sorry I missed your question about the underside scheme. The underbelly is all yellow on the swiss version. I did a photo search on webcrawler.com and got lots of good ones. just type "Bucker Jungmeister" on the subject line and make sure you select "photo" for the type of search and go for it...

Images

Thanks for the scheme info. Will look through there. I like the yellow swiss, but, maybe will find another pattern, or make one up, as I have been known to do Maybe the Swiss scheme on top and red on the bottom, or, red and yellow checks. I know the scale purists will hunt me down

I will wait and see how your cowl comes out. I am very impatient when it comes to carving things. Just smooth curves try my will power.

Don't you just love the laminating method. Did it first on a Dare Triplane (where I learned it), then again on my WACO. I found that I like to use 1/32" ply on the inside, then a few layers of 1/16" or 1/32" balsa. And I agree, the CA is best for bonding. I like to cut out a template from 3/16" foamboard (thick posterboard stype stuff) and tape the strips to that.